With all four Helsby runners in the top ten a great result for the club, and a 1, 2, 3 from Adair, Ian and Andy showed the effort put in on the day. Outstanding views on the run, so much so that Jackie went to revisit an area she enjoyed after the King John’s Castle fell counter on Saturday, aptly named Pothole Crags (which is essentially the highest part of the Trail up the Beast race). Interestingly the Open to Offas route also takes in part of The Druid , The Lletty, the Llangynhafal Loop and The Beast Races. We’ll probably do some recce’s of the route next year if anyone fancies it.

Running for 7 hours (and on Monday for a few hours too I believe) didn’t stop Jackie having a pop at the 3rd Wirral Multi-Terrain beach race nr Wallasey last Tuesday night. Jackie was joined by 12 other Helsby runners. It was a mixed night with the weather, as those on a long warm-up got completely drenched whereas sensible people sought shelter in the pub! Interesting route choice early on also determined a good run or not with two distinct groups starting out at the beach either heading left or right. (Note for the future, take the route to the right!) Both Jackie and Jayne were 3rd in their respective categories but stealing the show that night was Carol Shaw coming in 1st for her category. Current standings after three races can be found in the full results on RO’s website below but Helsby positions and times extrapolated

5th Jayne Joy 28.57 (3rd) 26th Janet Robertson 33.09 31st Carol Shaw 33.38(1st) 42nd Jackie Keasley 35.52 (3rd) 58th Janet Shaw 39.36
The race series finishes this Tuesday night at Arrowe Park (Cherry Orchard car park), it’s a 6.30pm start, no registration but race costs £1. Prize giving should follow shortly afterwards for those eligible for a prize. Remember it’s the best 3 of your 4 races so worth checking where you stand currently and be aware of the people you might need to beat! Might be worth having some shoes with grip too if the recent rain is anything to go by.

Thursday night John Thompson was out at the Ron Hill birthday 5k nr Rochdale. Superb run for John on a hilly 5k. Full results here

How different the weather was for Saturday and the King John’s Castle Inter Club and Fell Counter at the Raven Inn. Brilliant blue skies welcomed runners and enabled a nice beer in the front of the pub for prizegiving afterwards. The Raven Inn made everyone welcome even providing soup and tea and coffee as part of race entry, another fell bargain at £4. Thanks go to Martin Contrviend and John Linley for organising this race. John had also made some age category winner t-shirts unique for the event.

So how did it go……………

It’s not as tough in terms of climb as some of the other fell races, but was tricky in navigation in parts, and made you work hard in places, so the results don’t tell the full story as some runners will have lost time in parts. There was a stile very early on which was used this year as the farmer would not allow a gate opened but apart from that it’s a good race and thankfully we had Joe and Bill marshalling out on the course where it crossed a road, and supporting in fine voice as always. General feedback was good.

Provisional results are already done by Julian who copied them down on the day.

It makes interesting reading for those that like stats. Helsby were 2nd on the day and 2nd overall in the series, which is a fair result I think and probably as expected if we go by club size. I think the Druid showed when we have a full compliment of runners we are very strong. Saturday we missed some of our good runners and it may have made things a little closer by the end but overall I hope everyone enjoyed the series and will continue to support the races next year. Of note we only had 9 runners out compared to Spectrums 14. We’ll make sure the races are all suitable to get to this time too! Pat on the back for everyone who did one or all of the races and if you do have any comments on the series please let me know.

Full results should appear in time on the Welsh fell runners website www.wfra.org.uk but Helsby positions as below (times will be updated on the blog once received)

Sunday was the Southport 10k legacy event, have found a website but no results yet, will keep an eye out though and 4 Helsby ran, definitely Roy, Adrian and Helen and have been informed one othe, which gave Roy a 1st v45 and Adrian a 2nd v40, well done guys.

Yes, it’s an old joke – but it got your attention.
With the equinox past and the September multi-terrain races almost over, we will shortly be back to the winter round of road training runs on a Wednesday night. The first official club winter run will be on Wednesday 3rd October and will be the customary muster run to Frodsham and back, followed by an informal social in the club bar afterwards – see earlier email from David & Lesley.
If you still have an itch for mud which road training just ain’t going to scratch, then on Saturday 6th October we’ll start some cross country training sessions with Warrington Road Runners & Lymm Runners whom we are joining forces with for the Sunday League XC series of races. The format of the training will evolve over the winter and we are kicking off with some circuits of Town Park, Runcorn (including a few goes of the infamous ski slope!) , meet at the Runcorn Ski Centre at 9:30am and hopefully the centre should be open for us to grab a hot drink afterwards.

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Once again, as summer slowly wans into autumn, it’s been a busy week for Helsby running personnel.

Last Tuesday saw Race 2 in the September Wirral Multi-terrain series. Full results and current placing’s are on Steve Saunders website here www.stevesaunders.co.uk Helsby position and times below, with a special congratulations to Adrian for breaking into the top 100 for the first time, something he’s been aiming to do since last year, great effort. Sterling effort by Carol for a 2nd place in her category and Jayne and Jackie both 3rd in theirs. 15 of us ran in total. Team placings can also be seen on the full results pdf document.

Mixed bag of weather on the night, and what could have been a golden beach sunset turned into a windy and heavy shower for the 2nd lap of the beach run. Still great fun for everyone I’m sure! Race distance was 4.9miles with road to begin then beach and the Wirral Way to finish. Another beach run this Tuesday as race 3 is at Harrison Drive, Wallasey at the earlier time of 6.30pm. Hopefully we can still have a good crowd out, and remember there’s no registration, just turn up in the Helsby vest and run. You’ll need a pound though but not a bad price for a race.

Results now out as above but Andy Robinsons time is down as 20 mins slower than he actually was, so I’ll send a separate email when they arrive but four of us out from Helsby and all having a brilliant day, great weather and great scenery and to be honest really quite spoiled at the end with endless tea being offered. It is definitely one for the calendar to try if you have not had a go at this type of event even if you don’t feel like racing. Good to see Ian Hilditch out on the course too. Adair, Ian Landucci, Andy Robinson and Jackie all ran.

Looked a nice day for running, easy to say for those of us taking it easy with the camera, had done some practising in France last week with my zoon lens (but the real reason was that I was just too scared of Jayne’s current form to want to race against her)

By all accounts it was a bit windy on some parts of the course and feedback suggested that it more undulating than expected but still a course that people get their PB’s on. Jayne and Jane now both under the magic 40 minutes this year which meant Jayne was first home for Helsby with a new PB of 39.14 that earned her 2nd place in the race. And the sub40 so soon after the sub 90 half marathon means she’s already redefining her targets for next year. A cracking run by Roy saw him first green vested man in a close battle with Jim O’Hara. Ten runners out for Helsby with Monday night track star Jason taking 4th junior and 45 minutes dead on his first 10k. Joe was out watching on the course helping those hunting PB’s. Helsby positions and placings as follows:

I’ll be heading to the club at 5.30pm this Wednesday for a faster hill run if anyone fancies it to try and utilise a bit of the light while its remaining. I’ll also send a reminder out later in the week about our next club fell counter this Saturday which is also the final race in our Inter-club series. If you’ve not tried a hill/fell race yet definitely one to try.

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The race was cancelled because of the weather and you should have had email updates. We still have a few reduced T-shirts for sale and commemorative finisher’s mugs for anyone that wants to collect or cover the postage.

One of our goals has always been to support local community groups and charities. Many runners have been in touch to ask that their money be donated to charity. Thank you! We’ll be back!

Where do I begin? Well there’s only one answer isn’t there! It has to be Chris Baynham-Hughes completing the Dragons Back Race which is one of the phenomenal achievements of a lifetime for Chris, oh apart from completing a brilliant Bob Graham earlier in the year! Thankfully It’s been well noted by people at the club offering support via email and donations, talking about it on training runs and track, following Chris each day online etc so there is not much else I can add in this instance, and we now know how tough Chris is after his recent email regarding the race so all I can say is what a fantastic effort and more details for those interested here

With a few less miles to worry about than Chris Tuesday night saw the start of the Wirral Multi-terrain Series at Royden Park, Frankby. Results state 4.69 miles in distance. It was a pleasant night which meant numbers were increased from last year, nearly 275 runners in total. Thanks to Bill and Jayne on the course offering support and for Jayne sorting out money and positions at the end too.

Helsby positions and times as follows and I’ve included age group positions too, as there are prizes for top three in each age category. Team results are included in the official results on the website above.

Next race is Tuesday 10th September, also 7.00pm and at the Wirral Country Park, Thurstaston. Great atmosphere and races to be part of, best 3 of 4 count and still 3 races to go so doesn’t matter if you have missed one. £1 a race too, proper bargain.

Following on from Tuesday’s multi-terrain, Friday was the last in the Deestriders Summer MT league. Jayne consolidated her recent wins with an emphatic victory, cheered in by special guests Tom and Adrian and with Joe and Mario in support too. Joe now has some vocal competition with Adrian on the course! Great if you are a Helsby runner as we all know. Prize giving followed the race and in between plates of chips Jayne picked up a tidy trophy so hopefully a photo of that will follow shortly for the blog. Great runs too for Jimmy (who once again biked here, he’ll be the fittest guy in Helsby soon and with Ivan Davies and David Madders out with the green vest it was a good night for Helsby. (Worth thinking about this series for next year everyone.)

Running Friday obviously had no effect on some. Sunday was our 10th club counter, the Lake Vyrnwy half marathon. Jayne Joy took four minutes or so from her PB to now join the sub 90 category for 5th lady. Jane Ashbrook had a fantastic race too for a 3rd place category win. Joe picked up the prizes. Also out on course with Joe and Mario supporting were Charlie and Chris and Janet Shaw. Well ran everyone.

Ivan had another great run (after running Friday to), knocking on the door of 40 minutes as well as Dave Madders also well up the field.

75th Ivan Davies 40.54
189th David Madders 45.22

Sorry if the race reports are a little short but lots going on this week. It’s great to see how well everyone is running.

Lots coming up too, this Saturday is the Open to Offas LDTR event, 30 mile with some climb (Chris might do it before breakfast), email for more info

Sunday is the local Sutton Six 10k organised by West Cheshire, which is our 11th club counter, so if you are looking to do a final 10k this year or want to pick up some club counter road points that’s the one to do.

Apologies if I’ve missed anyone or any events, last few track sessions remaining, so be at Helsby High School 6.30pm tonight for a little speed work.

This event sees walkers and runners heading from the England/Wales border near Clun to the coast near Aberystwyth. At 45 miles this is some challenge. Andy didn’t just complete it he came in 3rd place with a time of 8 hours and 50minutes. The joint winners were not too far ahead with 8 hours and 38 minutes. By all accounts the fastest recorded time is 8 hours so a great effort by Andy (although he has been quicker on the route by 20 minutes in much better conditions)

So if that’s navigating Wales East to West Chris Baynham-Hughes is still heading from North to South via every mountain in site, now on his 2nd day of the Dragons Back (I’d wrongly stated he was already on Day two yesterday, ooops). Reports from the website are stating it was a lot more difficult than expected for the top runners and eagled-eyed Ed has spotted who we think is Chris from the Day one photos here…can you see him too